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<P><H2><A NAME="id_help_kerberos"></A><A NAME="hid_about_kerberos"></A>About Kerberos</H2></P>

<P>In Greek myth, the three-headed dog Kerberos guarded the gates of Hades.
These days, Kerberos is an <A
HREF="leas6oyq.htm#id_help_authentic">authentication</A> service developed at
MIT for open network computing environments such as MITnet. Kerberos verifies
that you are who you claim to be by matching your username and password,
called a Kerberos <A HREF="leash_topic_kerberos_principal.htm#id_help_principal">principal</A>, to a
private key encryption. </P>

<P>When you start an application that relies on Kerberos authentication, you
must identify yourself by giving your Kerberos principal. The Kerberos service
checks to make sure that your name and password match the encrypted key before
it gives you access to the service you have requested. The security of the
network environment is maintained by never sending your unencrypted Kerberos
password over the network. </P>

<P>To use the Athena system, you must have a Kerberos username and password.
Some Macintosh and Windows applications at MIT that use Kerberos to
authenticate a user's identity are Eudora, Zephyr and AFS.</P>

<P><B>See Also</B></P>

<P><A HREF="leash_topic_kerberos_auth_service.htm">An Authentication Service for Open Network
Systems</A></P>

<P>(This technical description of Kerberos, by Steiner, Neuman, and Schiller,
is available via anonymous ftp from athena-dist.mit.edu,
/pub/kerberos/doc/usenix.txt.)</P>

<P><A HREF="leash_topic_kerberos_principals.htm">Kerberos: How Does the Other Guy Know Who I
Am?</A>.</P>

<P>(This basic introduction to Kerberos and definitions of Kerberos-related
terms is available in the SIPB publication <I>An Inessential Guide to
Athena</I>.)</P>

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